Six people collaborate on creating a document.

From project proposals, to instructional materials, to recruiting resources, PDF documents are plentiful across the ATE Community. It’s vital to ensure that the documents we produce are accessible to as many users as possible. This not only helps widen our reach, but can even improve the experience for users without disabilities. Make your PDF documents accessible by design with the Creating Accessible PDFs tip sheet from AccessATE and NCAM.

This tip sheet covers accessible PDF structure, navigating Adobe Acrobat, and more! To find additional resources that will help your team ensure accessibility, read the AccessATE blog post about the Creating Accessible PDFs tip sheet.

AccessATE supports the work of the NSF-funded Advanced Technological Education (ATE) projects and centers in making the materials and activities they develop more accessible for all students and faculty, including those with disabilities. The project aims to increase awareness and understanding of accessibility requirements and provide guidance, tools, and support that offers solutions and helps achieve compliance with accessibility standards.

Two people build a website collaboratively.

The quantity and quality of online content is ever-increasing in most areas, including education. Taking extra steps to ensure your website and webpages are accessible, as this tip sheet on Creating Accessible Websites from AccessATE and NCAM describes, can make your content stand out and get it used more often by more people.

This tip sheet covers how to use headings to keep your website organized, tips for writing descriptive link text and button labels, testing websites for accessibility, and more! The sheet also links to additional resources that will help your team ensure accessibility. To learn more, read the AccessATE blog post about the Creating Accessible Websites tip sheet.

AccessATE supports the work of the NSF-funded Advanced Technological Education (ATE) projects and centers in making the materials and activities they develop more accessible for all students and faculty, including those with disabilities. The project aims to increase awareness and understanding of accessibility requirements and provide guidance, tools, and support that offers solutions and helps achieve compliance with accessibility standards.

Image of the CA2VES webinar series banner.

This webinar, which took place on March 17, 2021 guides viewers through the essential topics in qualitative research. This includes the definition of qualitative research and the most common methods and analysis techniques. This webinar is intended to provide an introduction for researchers new to qualitative research. Those interested in viewing the webinar recording can find it on the CA2VES Webinar Series page, along with other past webinar videos.

Illustration of a camera, lighting, and video editing equipment.

This tip sheet covers best practices for creating accessible videos, from captioning to creating descriptive narration to selecting accessible video players. The tip sheet also includes links to related resources. To learn more, read the AccessATE blog post about the Creating Accessible Videos tip sheet.

AccessATE supports the work of the NSF-funded Advanced Technological Education (ATE) projects and centers in making the materials and activities they develop more accessible for all students and faculty, including those with disabilities. The project aims to increase awareness and understanding of accessibility...

Image of the Mentor-Connect logo.

Community college faculty who have had ATE project proposals declined during the past 24 months are eligible for help from Mentor-Connect’s  Second-Chance Mentoring to re-apply for funding. Second-Chance Mentoring provides faculty teams with advice from an experienced mentor to rework and resubmit ATE grant proposals.

The application deadline is April 1. But Mentor-Connect responds within days to Second-Chance Mentoring applications so work with a mentor can begin ASAP.

Image of the AACC CCIC banner.

Do you know a student with an entrepreneurial spirit and an interest in STEM? 

AACC, in partnership with the National Science Foundation, is inviting community college students to participate in the 2021 Community College Innovation Challenge (CCIC). 

The CCIC is a national competition where community college student teams, working with a faculty or administrator team mentor, use science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) to innovate solutions to real-world problems, attend a Virtual Innovation Boot Camp, and compete for cash awards. 

The Virtual Innovation Boot Camp provides professional development, mentoring, and coaching designed to build strategic communication and entrepreneurial skills to help students advance their innovations in both the public and private sectors. The Boot Camp culminates in a virtual poster session and engagement opportunity with STEM leaders and Congressional stakeholders, and a pitch presentation in front of a panel of industry professionals to determine the first, second, and third place winning teams.

Diverse and interdisciplinary teams that include students in STEM, business, humanities, and other fields are encouraged to ...

Image of the Mentor-Connect logo.

The purpose of this webinar is to help those who have not been funded by NSF to develop fundable proposals. Topics include how to prepare a budget for your NSF ATE grant, what to include in each budget category, how to prepare a budget justification, how to align the budget and project description, and how to avoid common errors.

This event will take place on Mar 17, 2021  at 1:00 pm ET. Those interested in participating should register to attend.

Image of the Scott Wright Student Essay Contest logo.

Held in honor of former Community College Week editor Scott Wright, this annual essay contest asks participants to complete a 500-word essay on "a faculty member, staff member, or administrator who encouraged them to complete a course, finish a semester, or graduate from college and how that encouragement helped them reach their goal(s)."

Three students will be selected as winners, with both the authors and featured individual receiving $1,000 checks. The student winners will also gain a complimentary 2021-2022 NISOD membership and be featured on NISOD's website. Essays will be evaluated on the basis of content, originality, clarity, organization, conciseness, and grammar.

Those interested in participating should submit by the March 12 deadline.

A young woman in a blazer participates in a video conference.

The market for instructional media (examples - technology tools, environments, etc.) is very saturated. This webinar will discuss the importance of selecting appropriate media in your instructional process. We will look at example situations and discuss the rationale for selecting appropriate tools.

The event will take place on Feb 23, 2021 at 02:00 pm ET. Those interested in participating should register to attend.

Image of the 2021 STEM For All Video Showcase banner.

This year's STEM For All Video Showcase invites participants to "share your federally funded project to improve STEM & CS education by submitting a 3-minute video. Discuss it online with researchers, educators, policy makers and the public." The event will center on the theme STEM for All: COVID, Equity & Social Justice.

The event will take place online between May 11-18, 2021. Those interested in participating should register by February 12. Then, presenters must submit a video by April 15.